Issoufou, Mahamadou

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Issoufou, Mahamadou mähämädo͞o ēso͞ofo͞o´ [key], 1951–, Nigerien political leader, president of Niger (2011–). After studying in France, he worked as a mining engineer and helped found (1990) the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism. He was elected to parliament in 1993, serving as prime minister (1993–94) and then president of the national assembly (1995–96). Following a military coup in Jan., 1996, Issoufou was placed under house arrest several times in 1996–97; in 1999 and 2004 he was again elected to the national assembly. Issoufou, who first ran for president in 1993, finally won the office in 2011 and 2016, but the latter election was marred by apparent harassment of his main opponent.